Chief Minister's Shasakt Kisan Yojana (CM-SKY)

What is Chief Minister's Shasakt Kisan Yojana?

Chief Minister's Shasakt Kisan Yojana, commonly written as CM-SKY and sometimes transliterated as Mukhya Mantri Sashakt Kisan Yojna, is a farm-support programme of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh delivered by the Department of Agriculture. According to the Arunachal Scheme Handbook published by the state government, the programme was introduced as a budget announcement in the financial year 2019-20 and was targeted to continue up to 2021-22.

CM-SKY exists because Arunachal Pradesh has roughly 18 lakh hectares of land that could be brought under horticulture and plantation crops, but only about 60,000 hectares: close to 3.3 per cent: had actually been developed. The state government's answer was to pay farmers directly, per hectare, to establish plantations of two commercially proven crops, tea and rubber, and to support a second crop cycle on the same land.

The Arunachal Scheme Handbook records a total outlay of Rs 70.70 crore under the horticultural activities of the budget announcement in 2019-20. CM-SKY was launched in Itanagar alongside a companion programme, the Chief Minister's Krishi Samuh Yojana, which builds Farmer Producer Organisations rather than paying individual farmers.

Key objectives

• Increase production and productivity of major fruit and plantation crops so that the state holds a marketable surplus rather than only subsistence output.
• Uplift the status of women, marginal and small farmers through self-employment generation and commercialisation of horticulture activities.
• Match the crop to the district, using the thrust areas identified district-wise for crops that already grow well in that agro-climatic belt.

Main features

• Inputs are provided to farmers for tea, rubber and double cropping, on a per-hectare basis.
• Crops chosen for the double-cropping component are selected on the basis of soil testing, not on the farmer's preference alone.
• A parallel Area Expansion component runs under the Department of Horticulture, which extends the same yojana to fruit crops.

Who is eligible for Chief Minister's Shasakt Kisan Yojana?

You can be considered if:

• You are a permanent resident of Arunachal Pradesh and a progressive farmer of any area or field. The handbook's eligibility line is broad, "progressive farmer of any area/field", so the scheme is not restricted to one district.
• You belong to the Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APST) category. The handbook lists the APST certificate as a required enclosure.
• You hold land in your own name, evidenced by a Land Possession Certificate or land allotment document certified by the Gaon Burah, Head Gaon Burah or a PRI member and countersigned by the district administration.
• You intend to actually plant, the sketch map you submit must show the plot proposed for tea or rubber.

Women, small and marginal farmers are the stated priority group. Under the Horticulture-run Area Expansion component of the same yojana, assistance is capped at a maximum of 1 hectare for marginal, small and women farmers, and pilot projects were reserved exclusively for women farmers and entrepreneurs. That component also names unemployed youth entering horticulture business and opium cultivators seeking an alternative livelihood as eligible groups.

You cannot apply — or are not eligible; if:

• You cannot produce an APST certificate, since it is a listed mandatory document for the plantation assistance.
• You have no verifiable land record. A verbal claim to community land without a certified Land Possession Certificate and countersigned sketch map will not clear district verification.
• Your proposed plot lies outside the crop thrust area approved for your district in that year's action plan. CM-SKY is delivered against a district plan, so a rubber proposal in a district planned for a different crop can be set aside.
• You are applying as a firm or company rather than as an individual farmer. The eligible-beneficiary line names farmers, and institutional applicants are routed instead to the Chief Minister's Krishi Samuh Yojana for FPOs.

What documents are required for CM-SKY?

Get the land document and the sketch map certified in the same visit. The two enclosures carry the same certification chain, and applications are most often delayed because the sketch map was countersigned later than the land record.

How to apply for Chief Minister's Shasakt Kisan Yojana

CM-SKY is an offline scheme. There is no self-registration link for it on agri.arunachal.gov.in, and any website asking for a fee to "register" you for CM-SKY is not a government channel.

1. Visit the office of the Agriculture Development Officer (ADO) or the Agriculture Field Assistant for your circle, or the District Agriculture Officer (DAO) at district headquarters, and ask whether CM-SKY assistance is being sanctioned in the current financial year.
2. Collect the prescribed application format from the ADO or DAO. Do not use a downloaded generic form; districts issue their own format tied to the year's action plan.
3. Fill the form with your name, village, circle, district, the crop you propose (tea, rubber or double cropping) and the exact area in hectares.
4. Get your Land Possession Certificate and sketch map certified by the Gaon Burah, Head Gaon Burah or PRI member, then countersigned by the local district administration.
5. Attach the APST certificate, three passport-size photographs, identity proof and your bank passbook front page.
6. Submit the complete set to the ADO or DAO and collect a dated acknowledgement or diary number.
7. Allow field verification. An agriculture officer will visit the plot shown on your sketch map to confirm area, accessibility and suitability.
8. Wait for the district selection committee, chaired by the District Collector, to screen and approve the list. Sanction and release follow.

If an application is rejected or lapses, the myScheme listing for CM-SKY notes a 30-day gap before a fresh application can be filed.

How much benefit does CM-SKY provide?

The Arunachal Scheme Handbook lists the benefits precisely:

• Rs 1.00 lakh per hectare as cash assistance for tea plantation.
• Rs 80,000 per hectare as cash assistance for rubber plantation.
• Seedlings and planting material for the approved crop.
• Fencing material, barbed wire, nails and GI angle posts; because unfenced young plantations in Arunachal Pradesh are routinely lost to grazing.
• Tools and implements for tea, rubber and double-cropping work, listed as khurpi, spade, dao and sprayer machine.
• Cultivation assistance for land development, covering manure, fertiliser and plant protection chemicals.

The cash component is per hectare, so a farmer sanctioned 2 hectares of tea is assessed at Rs 2.00 lakh. The actual sanction is limited by the area verified in the field and by the funds allotted to the district that year; not by the area written on the application form.

Under the Horticulture Area Expansion component of the same yojana, all payments are made through Direct Benefit Transfer to beneficiaries or vendors, and beneficiaries must be registered on the Hort Net portal to be assisted. That component also requires mandatory geo-tagging of the site both before and after implementation, along with the farmer.

How do I check the status of my CM-SKY application?

CM-SKY has no online status tracker. Track it the way the scheme is run:

1. Quote the diary or acknowledgement number from your submission when you follow up at the ADO or DAO office.
2. Ask whether field verification has been completed for your plot and whether the verification report was favourable.
3. Ask whether your name appears in the district action plan list placed before the selection committee.
4. After sanction, check your bank passbook for the DBT credit rather than waiting for a letter.

Why do CM-SKY applications get rejected?

• APST certificate missing or expired, which stops the file at scrutiny.
• Land record not countersigned by the district administration, so the plot cannot be treated as verified.
• Sketch map does not match the field, the single most common finding at verification, the mapped area is larger than the plantable area.
• Crop not in the district thrust area for that year's action plan.
• District allotment exhausted, in which case the application is carried forward rather than refused on merit.
• Bank account not active or not in the applicant's name, blocking DBT.

Fixes are practical: re-certify the sketch map with the actual plantable area, attach a fresh APST certificate, and ask the ADO whether your file should be re-tabled in the next selection committee rather than filing an entirely new application.

Key dates and current status

CM-SKY was announced in the 2019-20 state budget and targeted for continuation to 2021-22, with an outlay of Rs 70.70 crore under horticultural activities in the first year. Because the programme was framed as a budget-announcement scheme with a defined horizon rather than a permanent entitlement, its availability in any given year depends on a fresh allotment to the district. No fresh statewide application window has been published on agri.arunachal.gov.in. Confirm with your District Agriculture Officer before preparing documents.

Where do I complain about CM-SKY?

• Department of Agriculture, Government of Arunachal Pradesh helpline: 0360-2244252.
• District Agriculture Officer at your district headquarters, for verification and sanction disputes.
• Deputy Commissioner (DADS) of the district, who chairs the selection process, for grievances about selection or exclusion from the list.
• Circle or Block Officer, for problems with certification of land documents and sketch maps.

No fee is payable to apply for CM-SKY. Seedlings, fencing material and tools are supplied in kind, and no officer or middleman is authorised to charge for "arranging" a sanction.